Day One
by jayer
Summary: Every tale of friendship has a first day. Post Cut Man
1. Chapter 1

"Morning, Mr Nelson."

"Morning, Aggie." Franklin smiled at the older woman as he handed over his id card. "How's the bacon?"

'Extra crispy."

"Just the way I like it." Franklin laughed as he made his way over the buffet station. He quickly piled up a plate of eggs, bacon, fruit, biscuits.

"Yo, Frankie." A voice called out as he was pouring a cup of coffee. Franklin looked up to see his suite mates grinning at him from a side table.

"Running a bit late. You don't want to miss Stanton's stirring speech on the importance of keeping up with your classwork."

"Well, Douglas." Franklin popped at the hand reaching for his bacon. "I wouldn't be if someone didn't take 30 minutes in bathroom."

"This" Doug waved his face haphazardly around his face, "takes time."

"If that is what we get after your excessive bathroom time, I hate to see what climbs out of bed in the morning."

"Harsh, dude."

Franklin grabbed at the hand. "Seriously, Tommy. Next time I'll fork you."

"Cranky." Tommy sneered at him.

"Now, now Tommy." Doug grinned at his brother. "Can't fault Franklin for his lack of social skills. What with his roommate being a no show. He's got no one to practice with."

"Guess someone's got a single."

Franklin took a long sip of his coffee. "Guess so, lucky me."

"1L with a single just seems so unfair." Doug grinned. "You should share the wealth, especially with old friends."

"We lived in the same dorm for a year, that hardly makes us old friends. So no, Tweedledee I'm not letting you and Tweedledum turn my room into a sex nest. You'll just have to use a sock like everyone else."

"Told you he wouldn't go for it."

"Had to give it try."

"Hey guys."

Franklin looked up to see their RA approaching. "Hey Toby."

"Glad I caught you before you headed to your morning meeting."

"What's up?"

"Housing called, they have a new guy for your room."

"Oh. Okay. Cool." Franklin tried to hide his disappointment. After four years of living in a noisy undergrad dorm with some rather questionable roommates he was actually looking forward to a private room even if it was only one term.

"They just called him this morning so he has to pack his stuff up, probably show up about 3, if you wanted to be there."

"Yeah, that would probably be a good thing. Thanks for the info."

"Anytime." Toby pulled out his phone as he turned away.

"Good thing we hadn't started that sex nest."

"I said no."

"You would have changed your mind."

"Oh Franklin." Toby walked back up. "I almost forgot. His name is Matthew. Matthew Murdock."


	2. Chapter 2

Franklin rapped on the door.

"Hey Frank." Tommy grinned as he opened door. "How was Stanton?"

"Boring. Which means I'm so looking forward to Basics of Contract Law."

"What until you get to Advanced Torts?"

"Great." Franklin rolled his eyes. "In the meantime perhaps you know what happened to my bed."

"Your bed?"

"Yeah. I came by after orientation to drop off my stuff before lunch and I had two beds in my room. Now there's only one."

"So nothing happened to YOUR bed?" A voice piped up.

Franklin sighed. "What difference does that make?"

"Franklin, Franklin." Franklin shrugged off the arm Douglas draped around his shoulders. "You are about to be a lawyer. Words matter. The exact way you say something can make the difference between making your case or getting objected to death."

"Fine. Douglas. Do you and Thomas know what happened to my roommate's bed?"

Tommy pulled open the door. "It's right here."

"Why?"

"Prank the new guy."

"Prank the new guy? What are we 12?"

"Classes start in three days and it's going to be serious time major. What's the harm in a little immaturity? Gets the blood flowing."

"What exactly is your plan here?"

"Guy shows up, sees only one bed and guess that Toby told him the wrong room."

"When he runs off to find Toby we put the stuff back and blaze out to play some ball."

"Kind of basic isn't it?"

"Well we only had a couple of hours."

Franklin took a peek at his watch. "Whatever. I've got an hour to pick up the last of my books and be back here to meet this guy who has equal odds of being the worlds biggest dick or my best buddy for the next three years."

"Don't worry, Frankie. If this Murdock guy is a total dick, we've got your back."

Frankie shook his head. "That is equal parts comforting and horrifying."


	3. Chapter 3

Franklin hefted his book bag up on his shoulder. Of course the book store was packed and of course on the one day he really wanted to be somewhere on time he was running late. It was almost 3 and he wanted to be there when Matthew arrived to actually see the joke. As juvenile and basic as it was, Doug and Tommy were right. Things were about to get real and they should grab all the laughs they could.

Franklin spotted the familiar cart as he walked out of the stairwell.

"Shit." He hissed under his breath. Was he too late? Had the guys already put everything back? Did he miss it?

Franklin walked into his room to find some guy standing with his back to the door and half the furniture missing. He must have just arrived.

"uh, hi. Can I help you?"

The guy turned around at the sound. From first glance he seemed like the definition of a normal boring guy. Average height, bit on the skinny side. Dark brown hair. Guy still had his sunglasses on which could an oversight or a sign that he's one of those 'i'm so cool' douche bag types.

"I was reassigned to this dorm. And Housing said room 217. But they must have told me the wrong room cause this is clearly a single and they said the room was a double. I'm totally sorry about walking into your room."

Franklin blanched as the guy reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded white stick. The sunglasses weren't because the guy is a douche.

"Are you Matthew?" He blurted out.

"Yeah."

"Then you're totally in the right room. And early."

"Early?"

"Yeah. Cause, um, well they did some kind of like floor cleaning and repainted all the empty rooms during the intersession. And my roommate, my previously assigned roommate, he dropped at the beginning of the week so when they moved all the furniture back from storage they only moved one set because they didn't have anyone new to put into the room.

"And, and um so Housing called and they asked me when somebody was going to be here so they could bring the other furniture. I could have sworn that Toby said 3:30 at breakfast this morning so thats what I told them."

Franklin could hear himself babbling but once he got started he was finding it hard to stop. He was saved by the sound of the door across the common room opening.

"Oh hey, there they are. The Housing guys. With your furniture." Franklin half jumped out of the room. "Work with me." He whispered at Doug.

"Got one bed and one desk." Doug said in a bad fake Irish accent. "Where do you want them?"

"Matthew? That's up to you."

"It's just Matt and I'm not really picky about my interior design. Anything with limited tripping over stuff opportunities is fine with me."

"Oh okay." Franklin shrugged before realizing that his roommate couldn't see it. "Why don't you grab a drink out of the frig and there's a love seat, you can chill."

"Sure. I'll figure it out."

Franklin watched as his roommate wandered into the common room.

"Dude, awkward much." Doug elbowed him in the ribs. "Why'd you punk out?"

"Why? Did you not notice that my roommate is blind?"

"Yeah so?"

"We pranked a blind guy. I'm totally going to hell for this."

"Oh please it was hardly one of the seven deadly sins. You'll go to confession tomorrow and tell the priest all about it and he'll make you do like ten Hail Marys and you'll be good."

"This is way more than ten Hail Marys. This is like 50 Hail Marys, at least 20 Our Fathers and like 100 Acts of Contrition."

"Still it will be what two hours and you're good again."

"Hey. You girls going to keep yapping or are we going to move the crap before he figures out we are full of shit."

Franklin followed the twins out of the room. Matt was sitting on the battered old love seat nursing a bottle of water.

"Everything okay?" Matt asked as they walked into the room.

"Yeah, we were discussing where to put your stuff. Got it all figured out so this will be quick and you can get all unpacked."

"Cool."

Franklin turned to see that Doug and Tommy had already grabbed the bed frame and were coming out. He waited until they walked past and grabbed the mattress.

"And for the record." Doug said, "We didn't prank a blind guy. We pranked your new roommate who just happens to be blind, which Toby didn't bother to tell us. So really how guilty are you?"

"Just help me the desk. Tommy grab the chair."

Franklin and Doug quietly moved the desk back to its spot.

"Hey, Matthew, Matt. It's good."

"Yeah. So what's the layout?"

"The layout? Right. Closet's to your left. There are drawers built into the bottom. For socks and underwear and stuff. Your bed is along the wall. And your desk is straight away." Franklin watched as Matt tapped a path across the room, mumbling to himself.

"Got it."

"Hey Franklin." Doug popped back into the room, bad accent missing. "Oh hey the new guy."

"Doug, this is Matt. Doug and his brother Tommy are in the adjoining room."

"Yo." Tommy hung in the doorway. "We're going to shoot some hoops, you wanna come?"

"No thanks. Gonna help Matt deal with his stuff."

"You don't have to."

"I don't mind."

"Actually I'd rather you didn't. It helps me to remember where everything is if I put it there myself."

"You sure? I could just hang, keep you company."

"I'm sure. We'll have plenty of time to hang later."

"Well dude, at least let us help you get your shit in the room and not in the hallway." Doug grinned. "We can dump the cart at the office downstairs since we're going right by it."

"Yeah, it's the least we can do for a new roommie." Tommy added.

"Okay."

The four boys made quick work of the couple of suitcases, handful of boxes and such.

"Okay well I won't be gone long, couple of hours, maybe. If you haven't gone to dinner by then perhaps we could walk over together."

"Sure."

"Come on Frankie time to get your ass whipped." Doug snickered. "Later Matt."

Franklin followed them into the hall. "Hey maybe I'll fall and break my arm. That would be quite the karmic payback."

"If you don't ease up on the guilt trip I'll break it for ya."

"Promise?"


	4. Chapter 4

Franklin jogged up the stairs. It was later than he'd said and Matt had probably on to dinner without him, especially if he was eating in the cafe.

"Should have gotten his phone number." Franklin muttered to himself as he dug his keys out of his pocket.

He grabbed a soda out of the small refrigerator on his way to their bedroom. As he opened the door he noticed a shadow on Matt's bed, lit up by the fading sunlight from the open blinds. Franklin quietly slipped over to his closet and pulled off his sweaty shirt, tossing it in the laundry basket on the top of the builtin. He pulled open a drawer to get a clean shirt and flinched as it squeaked.

"I'm not asleep." Matt called out softly.

"Oh. okay."

"And you can turn on the light. Even if I'm sleep it's not going to wake me up. One of the few pluses of being blind."

"Right." Franklin reached up and hit the switch. Matt had sat up and was sitting back against his pillows.

"How was your game?"

"Wasn't exactly a game. And I got my ass kicked. What have you been up to? Other than unpacking." Franklin plopped down on the end of his own bed.

"Reading." Matt lifted up his hand to reveal a slightly battered and outdated iPhone. it was then that Franklin noticed the headphones hanging around Matt's neck.

"Getting an early start on Essays on Legal Ethics?"

"No. Not touching a text book until Monday. Finishing the fourth, or is it fifth, Harry Potter. It's the one with the big competition."

"That's the fourth. And you don't strike as a Harry Potter fan."

"I wouldn't say I'm a fan but it's a good read. Plus the collection of rentable digital audiobooks from the University library is a little slim. Besides it's good to be aware of major cultural phenomenon."

"So I guess next you'll be hitting Hunger Games and of course Twilight."

"Already did Hunger Games. Had to read the first one for one of my poly sci classes and figured I should keep going. As for Twilight, I might be blind but the idea of sparkling vampires is a big no."

"Try having to watch the movies." Franklin laughed.

He watched Matt rub the face of his watch, realizing there was no glass so Matt could feel where the hands where.

"It's getting late. We should head over to the cafe before it gets too crazy. I don't really do well with crazy." Matt swung his feet off the bed and reached for his sneakers.

"Actually before we go." Franklin stumbled. He'd convinced himself on the walk back that confessing was the right thing to do but now he wasn't exactly sure how to go about it.

"Something up?"

"Yeah. I wanted to apologize about the thing earlier, with the furniture."

"By thing do you mean telling the Housing Department the wrong time or that it was all a big prank."


	5. Chapter 5

Franklin chuckled to himself. "And I'm busted."

"Yep."

"What gave it away?"

"Well for starters, the babbling like an idiot. You could have pulled it off but you flinched. Then to make it even more obvious you confessed with your victim in the next room. First note about blind people is that we can't see but we hear really well and you didn't exactly whisper. That leads to Exhibit C. If the 'housing guys' had really been bringing in my furniture they would have walked in from my right side and disappeared behind me but they walked in from in front of me. And yes I can tell the difference."

"Look in my defense it wasn't exactly my idea. Doug and Tommy did it. They thought it would be funny. I just didn't stop them."

"Well counselor I don't think you need a law school degree to know that being an accessory is also a crime. Still, I want to thank you."

"Thank me? For pulling a stupid prank on you?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Okay it must just be that I've known you for all of three hours tops but that didn't sound like sarcasm."

"It didn't sound like sarcasm because it wasn't. I genuinely mean it."

"I'm confused."

"I don't mean to sound like a sad sack in the middle of a one man pity party but since my accident, since I went blind, people don't act normal around me. Other kids, my teachers, they treated me like I was suddenly made of porcelain and I was going to break."

"Like Mr Glass."

"Who?"

"Mr Glass. Unbreakable."

"Never heard of it."

"It's like M Night Shyamalan's only really good movie. Samuel L Jackson plays this guy with this weird, and apparently real, bone disorder where they constantly break. He stubs his toe and his leg breaks in like 10 places."

Matt shrugged. "Sorry. But yeah that kind of describes how people treat me, in a way. Like they think I'm like that. For the last 12ish years I've been in one dorm or another. Guys pranking each other, horsing around but with me, nothing. No short sheeting my bed or hiding my shoes. No sticking my hand in a glass of warm water to see if I'd pee on myself."

"Or taping newspaper over the doorway and filling the space with blown up condoms."

"Exactly. I'd hear it happening all the time. Never to me. I mean no one was intentionally mean or anything. I was just constantly left out. And yeah it's crazy to let something like that bother you but it kind of does. Especially when you're a kid. So it means a lot, in a weird way, that you pulled a prank on me like I'm just another guy not some helpless fragile idiot that needs someone to feed him and dress him and wipe his ass."

"Dude, you're 22 and going to law school what idiot would think something like that."

"Actually I'm 21 as of last month and the idiot was my previous roommate. Although to be accurate he didn't say those exact words but it was basically the intent of what he did say."

"For real? What a douche. Tell me you fragile idiot punched him the face or racked him in the nuts with your cane."

"No. Actually I didn't do anything. He didn't say it to my face and I figured I should choose my battles, which meant putting in an early request to move from the general grad housing to the law school housing if something opened up next term."

"And my having a single saved your butt."

"Kind of. Although if I'd had a choice I would have asked for a roommate with a bit more creativity. I mean hiding a blind guy's furniture is a tad lame."

"I told you, it wasn't me. And not that I'm generally one to defend Doug and Tommy but we didn't find out about you until this morning and Toby forgot to mention the blind part. Next time will be far better."

"I would hope so."


	6. Chapter 6

Franklin watched as Matt slipped on a beaten up jacket and carefully tucked his wallet into his pocket.

"You coming?" Matt picked up his cane.

"No. And neither are you."

"I'm not?"

"Nope. We're going out."

"We are?"

"Yep. There's this great hole in the wall I've been wanting to check out. Pizza place. Does a Friday night special for all Columbia students. Get a pie and pitcher half price for flashing your student ID."

"I'm not exactly flush with funds right now so I'll just stick with the cafe."

"Objection, your honor. Dudes don't let roommates eat in the cafe on Mexican Fiesta Night."

"Mexican Fiesta Night?"

"Yep. And as yummy as plastic cheese sauce and dry tasting refried beans are, in the interest of air purity I'm going to have to insist that you go for the pizza. My treat, apology for the lameness."

"You aren't going to let me say no are you?"

"Nope." Franklin laughed. "But I am going to point out that you have something on your shirt."

"I do?" Matt pulled off his jacket.

"Looks like toothpaste. And I can't let my roommate go out to a hot spot for the lovely college ladies with a dirty shirt. Makes me look bad."

"Can't have that." Matt pulled a shirt out of his closet.

"Not that one."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's a button down. Hello, trying too hard."

Matt reached for another shirt, a dark blue henley. "Is this okay?"

"Much better."

Matt pulled off his dirty shirt. "There is something you haven't considered."

"Which is?"

"I don't know this area. I mean I know the campus buildings but off campus I'm basically clueless."

"So?"

"So you're going to have to guide me."

"What I tell you to turn left, turn right, don't trip on the curb. Sounds pretty easy."

"It's more complicated. Yeah, it's partly that stuff but it's also about protecting me from other things, unexpected things."

"How exactly does that work?'

"Say some kid is skateboarding down the sidewalk and he's texting on his phone and not paying attention, you have to pull me out of the way before he bashes into me and I end up with a broken arm or leg or something."

"That sounds pretty easy. And kind of bad ass."

"No, it's not hard. But does mean being able to react in a split second so it requires constant physical contact."

"Physical contact?"

"Yeah. Think about it, if you don't have to reach out to grab me then you can react faster."

"Makes perfect sense."

"Typically it's just holding hands. Not really an issue unless you have chronic sweaty palms. In a big crowd it's better if I put my arm around you."

"Yeah, sure. No big. Sounds easy."

"It is. And I'm going to have my cane so I can feel it out to walk it later on my own."

"Right."

"So it's not like folks won't get what's going on. They aren't going to misread two guys walking down the street together."

"Who cares what they think. Right. I'm not but I have no issue with folks thinking I am or anything. I've got no problem with it, which probably means I'm a really crappy Catholic" Franklin stopped short when he heard what sounded like a snort coming from his roommate. "What?"

"You really know nothing about blind people do you? You've never seen a blind person on a tv show or a movie or something?"

The truth hit Franklin like a slap to the back of the head. "You were shitting me?"

"Only the end part." Matt laughed. "Had to grab the chance to dish a little."

"I guess that makes us even."

"No I think I might be ahead, given mine wasn't as lame."

"But you flinched."

"True. So does this mean you aren't going to treat me to dinner. Cause I wasn't about joking about the cash thing."

"No, I'm still good for it. Even though you don't deserve it."

"What if I said I could earn it?"

"How exactly would you do that?"

"Well it's Friday night and you're willing to take your new roommate out to dinner on a not date plus you haven't mentioned a girlfriend. Add to this that you didn't want to be seen with a guy that had toothpaste on his shirt and I'm thinking you're looking to chat up one of those lovely ladies likely to be at this hole in the wall."

"And?"

"And three things that score points with the ladies are guys who like small dogs, are good with small children or are kind to the disabled."

"Yeah but you aren't disabled."

"True. I'm a reasonable fit guy who's a borderline genius with a sharp wit and a mildly demented sense of humor but most folks don't notice that cause blind. You being all smooth and cool and I've got this, it's no biggie will be irresistible."

"And you can make me an expert in 8 blocks?"

"Pay attention and I can do it in 3, 5 tops."

"Irresistible?"

"Sexy even."

"Well in that case, Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. That's from"

"Casablanca. I have seen that one."


End file.
